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Friday, 31 May 2013

The month of May was a pretty special time for us Hildebrands - we celebrated both mine and Caleb's birthdays, got to visit Korea, and I graduated with my Bachelor of Arts! To make our party day special & fun, I made a DIY photobooth at our home to goof off with our friends :)

All you need to make this photobooth backdrop is a roll of kraft paper, some chalk, and a roll of tape. Altogether this project cost me around $3 and it only took me around 15 minutes to put it together!

Here's what you do: tape your sheets of kraft paper to your designated photobooth wall, then start writing whatever it is that you want! I chose to simply repeat the lyrics of "Happy Birthday" over and over again to fill my wall and simply tried using different fonts.

To liven it up, I strung up a line of balloons, made a really easy tissue paper fringe garland, and tacked up a lace tablecloth as well. And voila, you've got yourself a super lovely, personal photobooth backdrop for your party!

Tuesday, 28 May 2013

My family has recently started using coconut oil, and man is it delicious. I am not going to lie, sometimes I just eat it... like with a spoon.

I don't care if that makes me a weirdo! It is so smooth and coconutty, totally worth any judgement I may receive.

However, I recently discovered a recipe for coconut bark on Kasey's Kitchen, and I knew I had to try it out. With crunchy coconut and semi-sweet or dark chocolate, it is way better than plain coconut oil!

Directions
1. Melt coconut oil. You don't have to completely melt it, but enough so you can easily mix in the coconut and spread it in a pan.
2. Mix in both coconuts. (I like the bark not super sweet, but if you have more of a sweet tooth, feel free to use all sweetened coconut, or all unsweetened if you like. I like the crunch the unsweetened has!
3. Line a 9x13 (or something similar, I didn't quite fill mine up - it just depends how thick you want it) with tin foil. *Check out the neat trick my mom showed me!
4. Press the coconut mixture in the pan. Spread it out evenly, and however thick you want!
5. Let this set in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes.
6. Melt the chocolate, and spread evenly over the cooled mixture.
7. Sprinkle a bit of salt over the top!
8. Pop back in the fridge, and let the chocolate harden.

9. When it has set break or cut into pieces.

*Also, we learned a new and ridiculously easy way to help line a pan with tinfoil! First, measure out your tinfoil, and then turn your pan upside down, and fold the tinfoil around it. Then, turn your pan right side up, and place your tinfoil inside! Your tinfoil will be a teensy bit too big, but it's much easier to handle this way!

I have made this recipe 3 or 4 times in the last couple of weeks. It is a great go to snack when you need just a little something! I have made it in bark form and in puck form, using mini muffin tins. I put them in the freezer for a bit, and then just flipped it upside down and they all popped out! I have experimented with a few different things, using dark chocolate, and drizzling the chocolate instead of spreading (for those who are watching their sugar intake), as well as varying levels of sweetness. All have been great, and everyone in the family likes something a little bit different! I have even left an entire corner chocolate free for my mom!

So have fun with this recipe! It is very forgiving, and I'm sure any changes or additions will work just fine.

Monday, 27 May 2013

Mumford and Sons has been on my list of bands I must see before I die, and I nearly had a heart attack when I found out they were FINALLY coming back to B.C.. I signed up for the pre-sale and managed to grab tickets right away....yahoo!

The concert took place in a park, and over 25, 000 people showed up. So yeah, it was kind of nuts. And when I say kind of....I mean mega nuts.

The day was so lovely, and we sat on the grass and listened to the opening bands....and it was the epitome of a perfect summer afternoon.

And then Mumford and Sons came on, and blew everyone out of the water.

I'm getting chills right now just remembering their harmonies and passion. Seriously, the were incredible.

Also, we bumped into a p.s.heart reader while entering the venue! We were so surprised and a bit flustered by this that we acted like complete weirdos, and didn't even ask her name.

If you're reading this, please know that we're sorry, and we really appreciated that you said hello!

The rest of my week consisted of farm work and sore muscles (what's new?), as well as graduation stuff. We had a grad dinner with family and close friends last night, and I walk the stage tomorrow afternoon.

My only hope is that I don't trip on the stage!

p.s. ♥ kelsey

p.p.s. All of these photos were taken on my little point and shoot, since dslrs weren't allowed inside the park! I had almost forgotten how to use it :P

Saturday, 25 May 2013

This outfit post was taken on the coast of S. Korea in the city of Busan, which is my mama's hometown! Caleb and I went out for a morning walk, did a little outfit post, enjoyed the lovely sand and sounds of the ocean, and picked up some treasures for us to take home. Now that I'm back in Alberta, I'm missing the beaches terribly and can't wait to be by the seaside again!

Thursday, 23 May 2013

On my recent trip to Korea, we were constantly by the seaside since S.Korea is a peninsula! I absolutely loveeee the ocean and warm sandy beaches, so this was just heaven to me. One morning in Busan, Caleb and I spent a relaxing morning walking along the beach and we started to collect pretty little shells that caught our eyes and I absolutely fell in love with seaglass. I know, I know....it comes from old beer bottles that people threw away, but seriously, it is beautiful!

I love all the different shades of the ocean that I found in my collection of seaglass and it looks lovely in this super simple and cost-effective way of remembering a special trip.

{ i n s t r u c t i o n s }

1. collect seaglass, seashells, or any other sea treasures you come across while enjoying the seaside!

2. take your glass jars, fill them up with your seaside treasures and place a tea light in the centre

Tuesday, 21 May 2013

Here in Abbotsford we had a crazy mini heat wave for about a week and a half. When the temperature hit 30 celsius, we knew it was time to break out the ice cream maker!

This heat wave lined up well with the first meeting of the "Not So Ladies' Book Club" (you may remember this silly group from our homemade s'mores posts! It's a club that went from a ladies' book club, to a club that included lots of boys, and rarely any books).

And since I (Jordyn) had missed my good friend Joel's birthday party a couple weeks ago, I thought I would make it up to him by making raspberry ice cream! I came up with this recipe for his birthday last year. He had a big ice cream party, and raspberries are his favourite! It was the perfect reason to make a big batch of ice cream.

While we do live on a raspberry farm, fresh raspberries are still about a month away. But we used the next best thing - our own berries which we froze last summer. They still taste amazing!

As you can tell the berries in the photo above are a little frosty, if ice cream isn't your deal, these berries make a great snack on their own! Pop a few into your mouth and you are good to go!

Directions:Raspberry Purée:
1. Blend all 4 cups of raspberries in a blender.2. Strain out all of the seeds.3. You should be left with about 1 1/2 cups of raspberry purée.
Ice Cream:1. Beat eggs in a large bowl.2. Gradually incorporate sugar.3. Add the rest of the ingredients (including raspberry purée, but NOT ice or coarse salt) and mix well.4. Place mixture in the barrel of your ice cream maker, and follow manufacturer's instructions. This will include layering ice and salt around the edges of the ice cream maker. Ours called for about 2 inches of ice, and then 1/2 cup of salt, repeated until the ice reached the top of the maker. Then we attached the motor, and let it run for about 40 mins. We added more ice about half way through. On our machine you know the ice cream is finished when the motor stops running. Yours may be different!

This ice cream comes out so velvety and smooth! The first bite is always amazing. (and the second and the third...)

We figured that a raspberry sauce would go perfectly with the raspberry ice cream! For the sauce we just heated about about 2 cups of frozen raspberries with 1/3 cup of sugar, and when it had simmered for a bit strained all the seeds out.

Other toppings that really complement the raspberry flavour are chocolate sauce/chips and toasted almonds.

Using the ice cream maker is always fun, and we really want to experiment with different recipes and flavours over summer! We were thinking Chocolate Peanut Butter, or perhaps Salted Caramel Swirl?